Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta canadensis · Nuthatches
Banding codeRBNU
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 4.5 in long.
2Color pattern
- Black eye-line under a white eyebrow
- Rusty-cinnamon underparts
- Climbs headfirst down trunks
3Habitat & season
Conifer forests; feeders in winter
In northern Utah: year-round.
Seen most often in January, August, September and October.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
A nasal call like a tiny toy horn.
“yank, yank, yank”
Wikimedia Commons by Mdf · A Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Ontario · CC BY-SA
Know it
- Its nasal call sounds like a tiny tin horn.
- Smears sticky conifer resin around its nest entrance, likely to keep predators out.
- Climbs down tree trunks headfirst.
- Eavesdrops on chickadee alarm calls to learn about predators.
Often confused with
Mountain Chickadee
American Robin
Mountain Bluebird- Pygmy Nuthatch
From iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The red-breasted nuthatch is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, which has been likened to a tin trumpet, is high-pitched and nasal. It breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern and western United States. Though often a permanent resident, it regularly irrupts further south if its food supply fails. There are records of vagrants occurring as far south as the Gulf Coast and northern Mexico. It forages on the trunks and large branches of trees, often descending head first, sometimes catching insects in flight. It eats mainly insects and seeds, especially from conifers. It excavates its nest in dead wood, often close to the ground, smearing the entrance with pitch.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0